A student at New York University (NYU) attending classes online and off-campus has been suspended for going to an outdoor rooftop party that allegedly violated the city's Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines.
The student, known as Andy – a pseudonym adopted to protect his identity – is arguing that the party in question complied with New York City's COVID-19 rules. The party, which was held on the rooftop of a building on Saturday, Aug. 22, had fewer than 50 people in it. While some attendees did not wear face masks, Andy alleges that he did not stand close to any of them and instead only spent time with his roommates. Andy is also arguing that he and his friends did not stay in the party long. (Related: Northeastern University expels 11 freshmen over supposed “party,” but keeps all their tuition money.)
Unfortunately for Andy, someone at the party posted a video on social media. While Andy never saw the video himself, he was visible in it. The video was then reported to NYU administrators through their COVID-19 compliance system.
The day after the party, NYU Director of Student Conduct Craig Jolley sent Andy an email accusing the student of “threatening the health and safety of the NYU Community.” By Monday, Aug. 24, Andy had been suspended for the rest of the semester. He will be able to return in 2021 if he begged the university to be readmitted and if he wrote a reflection paper regarding the role young people like himself are playing in the transmission of COVID-19 in the country.
NYU administrators have accused Andy of violating three key policies in their student code of conduct:
- Policy B1, which prohibits students from engaging in behavior that can threaten or otherwise compromise health and safety.
- Policy E1, which prohibits students from engaging in “disorderly, disruptive or antagonizing behavior” that can threaten the health, safety, security or welfare of the community.
- Policy E3, which obliges students to follow the university's and the city's COVID-19 guidelines while they are on campus.
In the letter sent to Andy informing him of his suspension, Jolley said that NYU is not going to tolerate any kind of conduct that supposedly “disregards the rules and threatens the health and safety of others.”
“Your behavior in this situation was unacceptable,” wrote Jolley.
Andy's appeal was swiftly rejected, and his suspension was confirmed
“I am not a student who will be staying at or near NYU housing, nor will I be entering Campus Grounds or NYU buildings as I am currently enrolled in all online courses,” wrote Andy in a letter appealing the decision. He was invited to plead his case on a Zoom call, but he was only given 24 hours to prepare. Immediately after the call, Jolley informed Andy that his appeal was rejected and that his suspension was finalized.
Even if Andy jumped through all of the hoops NYU wants to put him through, he might not be able to return because he relies on a full-tuition scholarship, the status of which is now being threatened by the disciplinary action leveled against him.
Furthermore, Andy said that the loss of his scholarship will also affect his future employment opportunities, as he has a job offer with a bank that is contingent upon his successful graduation.
“A suspension for me is more than just a semester,” he said. “This adversely impacts my entire life.”
Andy said he considered going through legal channels to get the situation sorted out, however, when he contacted a lawyer and found out how much it would cost him, he rejected this idea as he could not afford it.
Andy still believes he was wronged. Not only did he not put the health and safety of any NYU students at risk, he believes that the university's COVID-19 rules should only apply to people who are either actually present on campus or who attend physical classes there.
Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit that advocates for free speech rights in college campuses, said that if Andy were to file a lawsuit against NYU, he would have a solid case.
Steinbaugh is arguing that, unless the party Andy went to had a lot of NYU students around, the university has no reason to take disciplinary action against Andy, a student who will not be attending any physical classes at the campus. Steinbaugh further believes that the university was grossly overreacting to the situation, and unless the outdoor rooftop party violated New York City's health orders, it would be difficult for them to justify the suspension in court.
“It's hard to blame students for being surprised that this type of policy is being applied to their off-campus conduct,” said Steinbaugh.
While Andy reconsiders his options, right now he's trying to enroll at a different online college so that he can continue studying. He said that he regrets going to the party, and that he shouldn't have conducted himself in that manner while in the middle of a global pandemic.
He wrote in his appeal letter that he does try to stay safe, and that he has learned a lot from the incident. However, during the night of the party, his snap decision to go out was due to a desire to seek a sense of normalcy that he had not felt since before the coronavirus swept through the nation.
Listen to this episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about how the medical police state, with its insanely restrictive lockdown policies and mandatory vaccinations, has come to the United States.
NYU has suspended over 20 students for violating COVID-19 guidelines
Unfortunately, Andy is not the only victim of NYU's restrictive coronavirus rules. During the first weekend of the fall semester, the university announced that over 20 students have already been suspended for supposedly violating their health and safety rules.
“Please don't be next. Avoid parties and bars. Wear a mask. Keep your distance,” said NYU through their official Twitter account.
The school was concerned because of an outdoor party conducted at Washington Square Park, near the campus. NYU said that their health and safety rules apply at all times, whether or not the student is inside or outside of the campus.
“Our Office of Student Conduct has been aggressively enforcing [our health and safety rules] and will continue to do so,” said the university in a statement released after announcing the suspensions. “If we confirm that any of our students were involved in these gatherings and acting in violation of our health and safety protocols, we will take swift action.”
NYU isn't the only university enforcing these coronavirus regulations with heavy-handed punishments.
Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, made the waves for expelling 11 students for allegedly breaking social distancing rules on campus and for refusing to refund their $36,500 tuition. The University of Maryland has threatened to punish students for socializing in large groups, with several people already being suspended for their actions. At the University of Pittsburgh, students are being designated as “persona non grata” for violating the revised student conduct code, which means they are barred from going inside the campus.
Being prevented from accessing quality education during a pandemic will no doubt take a very heavy toll on these students. Learn more about the draconian policies being enforced under the guise of the coronavirus by reading the articles at Pandemic.news.
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